Charles Wilfred Gilderdale

Wilfred was brought up a Quaker, and went to the Quaker school Ackworth. His wedding to Florence was registered in York in September 1917, and they subsequently lived at 'Hartside' (In New Earswick village), before later moving to 'Brackenhill'.

He was known as Pop to his children and grandchildren and Wilf to his wife and friends. His son Michael recalls that "Pop was a lovely man. Modest by nature and a very caring Dad who loved family. He was keen on athletics, and as a youth played good soccer, hockey and tennis. Pop did not go to a university but probably studied engineering at some college or other. He got a job in the Rowntree Quaker chocolate factory in York, known as ‘The Cocoa Works" and became a very skilled civil engineer and also learned management skills under the eye of the famous Quaker Joseph Rowntree. He worked hard and in due time became a main Board Director of the company. At the cocoa works he was known as CWG as all the Directors for some reason all called each other by initials. He designed the machinery that made Aero chocolate bars with the bubbles. CWG with GH (Chairman George Harris) travelled on The Queen Mary to the USA to sell the patent for Aero to old man Hershey, the chocolate tycoon over there. All this led to family holidays (a Summer month annually at Filey) and a move to Brackenhill, that super home with its tennis court, strawberry teas, a cook, a housemaid, two gardeners, and dances and table tennis in the hall. Brackenhill, was in St. George's Place at the foot of The Mount, home of the Quaker girls school and the hill on which Owen and Nancy lived. It was a dead end road, off the main road to the suburb of Dringhouses which flanked the York Race Course. Mum and Pop had good friends. Charles and Phyll Wheeway (he chaired a button factory near the cocoa works) and Ben and Phyll Moorhouse. They were both single figure golfers and Ben was one of Pop’s engineering managers. Another family was the Crossleys. George Crossley was a cocoa works Director and the family lived at Brandsby, a village north of York. I recall a joint family holiday at Tenby in Wales. Three families with all the kids. Marvellous!"

After retirement, Wilfred took up art, making pastel drawings, and he also taught himself the piano - albeit playing a very limited range of pieces. He and Flo moved to a smaller house in Strensall, near the golf course, where Pop would play regularly - achieving the golfer's dream of a hole in one (on a hole where one had to play over trees to a blind green). He played a round of golf on the day he died, and then had friends around to dinner. He complained of feeling tired and went to bed early. At some point in the night he had a massive fatal heart attack.